Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or room to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Food security refers to people’s having physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Foods of animal origin have nutritional benefits and attract a high level of preference in most societies. Hence the identification and management of risks relating to food security at all points along the animal protein value chain is a necessary component in delivering the food security outcome. In a one health context the management of the various risks posed by infectious agents is one important dimension of food security. Infections may reduce productivity, cause barriers to commerce and marketing or even cause human disease. Importantly, the management of these risks requires a holistic approach involving an understanding of the human drivers of activities in the production, sale, processing and marketing of the animal products as much as an understanding of the microbiology and host/environment interactions that lead to transmission and disease. The behavioural influences will have financial or economic components but also habitual components based on cultural influences or tradition. Management of the pathways of transmission of infections animal to animal, animal to person and product to person depends critically on modification of human behaviours that facilitate transmission of such infections.

The papers in this session delineate aspects of the “behaviour chain” approach and give examples of specific problems and specific interventions that have contributed to favourable outcomes.

Presentations

Surveillance for Infections with Zoonotic Potential in Farmed Animals

Peter Wallace DANIELS

Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Australia

It is the policy of the animal health organizations, the OIE and the FAO, as well as the WHO that countries should be alert for infections in animals that may pose major public health threats, detect these and report occurrences. However the challenges for comprehensive surveillance for such infections are enormous, given the huge populations of farmed animals globally in a multitude of different farming systems at varying stages of sophistication. Animals are raised commercially across a range of settings from traditional village systems to modern intensive farming units. Clearly one single approach to surveillance for potential zoonotic infections will not be applicable in all situations. The challenge is to identify animal farming systems that could lead to a higher probability of emergence of pathogens with acquired characteristics that may then lead to their becoming serious zoonotic threats. It is usually stated that large populations of a single farmed species give opportunities for sustained transmission of infections with the consequent opportunities for emergence of new strains. Hence it would seem appropriate risk management to target a significant proportion of surveillance efforts at intensively farmed animal industries where ever they are maintained or being developed. The most recent human pandemic agent, the pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza virus, has been identified as arising in intensively farmed pigs in the Americas. Strains of zoonotic avian influenza with a high proportion of fatal human cases have arisen in the intensive poultry populations of East Asia, while the Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia was propagated in intensively farmed pigs. Ideally such infections should be detected in the farmed animals before extensive transmission to people occurs. This paper advocates that the risk be recognized and that concerted attention be given to developing management solutions for a problem that has tacitly been considered too hard.

The significant economic loss in the poultry industry, due to the recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak, ensures that biosecurity adoption on small-scale poultry farms remains a priority for Indonesia. However, given their economic constraints, small-scale poultry growers require a form of incentive to be motivated to adopt biosecurity. Since the majority of poultry farmers manage their birds under a contract, there is an increased responsibility for contract companies to encourage better on-farm biosecurity practices. In this regard, contract bonus systems that stimulate productivity and farm management improvements are considered as a potential means to provide incentives for farmers to invest in biosecurity.

This study evaluates contract bonus systems and its capacity to encourage investment in biosecurity. Employing a gross margin approach, data obtained from six major contractor companies in Bali were used to assess the contract bonus system that best reward biosecurity implementation. Bonuses rewarded by the contract companies were categorised into two groups, namely market price bonus and performance bonuses. Results show that the price bonus plays a significant role in providing additional income for the farmers. Farm profits are mainly obtained from these bonuses in Contracts 3, 5, and 6. Higher market price bonus also indicates that contract companies pass on a greater proportion of the Healthy Farm price premium to farmers. Meanwhile, Contracts 2, 4, and 6 provide farmers with higher performance bonuses, indicating that companies encourage farmers to improve production efficiency. Overall estimates after the initial year of biosecurity investment show improvements in returns for farmers. Findings from this research are informative to contract companies and other stakeholders in considering supports for biosecurity implementation for small-scale farmers in Bali.

The increasing demand for pork in Southeast Asia and Southern China is presenting significant opportunities for smallholder producers. It is important to understand the economic parameters and the public health risks of these pig production systems in the Greater Mekong sub-region. Lao PDR is strategically placed geographically between the larger markets of China, Thailand and Vietnam. Lao's recent accession to the WTO requires greater understanding of the patterns of livestock production and associated zoonoses risks in the country - including pork products - in order to align national policy with agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures. A greater understanding and quantification of the risk will help to ensure SPS recommendations are proportional to the risk, thus avoiding unnecessary penalties or transit times for pig producers and traders in the country. This study describes the integration of market chain analysis in two strategic cross border chains in Lao PDR. Integrating qualitative and quantitative research processes has lead to a greater understanding of the current knowledge, attitudes and practices of stakeholders along the pork value chain and of the associated economic and public health risks of this activity.

Evidence based recommendations can be made for setting policies and implementing government programs that address both the smallholder pig production needs and the public health risks.

Livestock food systems are evolving rapidly due to a combination of changes in demand and supply. The demand issues relate to increases in total human population, the continuing process of urbanisation and the greater wealth of people. The latter has an impact on the proportion of food people consume that comes from livestock systems. On the supply side there have been radical changes in the genetics of the animals farmed, how they are fed and housed. In general the new animals in the livestock food systems are limited in their ability to graze and scavenge, and are normally housed, watered and fed. In addition much of the slaughter and processing of livestock and livestock products is done by people who have no contact with final consumer. The new systems of producing livestock food are longer and more complex than previous ones, and the added complexity can at times appear overwhelming. The paper will explore some critical aspects when looking at these evolving systems such as (1) a need to focus on specifically on livestock product commodities, (2) mapping out the value chains that produces these commodities and (3) examining the linkages between the different value chains that make up the livestock food system. Of overwhelming importance is the need to identify the people involved in the system and understanding their motivations for living, working and running businesses in the system. By applying a systematic approach it is possible to focus on what is important to measure and provide a clarity on where resources needed to be used to manage disease, health and welfare problems

A One Health Approach to the Incorporation of Village Poultry Production into Nutrition-Sensitive Landscapes

Robyn Gwen ALDERS

University of Sydney, Australia

Extensively raised village poultry, and chickens in particular, play a key role in many households across the globe and are frequently the only livestock under the control of women. Village chickens are the most commonly raised livestock at the household level and they make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation, food security, HIV/AIDS mitigation, empowerment of women and wildlife conservation in many countries. Village poultry production is ideally suited to rural areas where the conditions for a successful commercial poultry sector are rarely met. Indigenous poultry breeds are excellent scavengers, transforming feed resources considered unsuitable for human consumption into high quality products such as poultry meat and eggs. This paper focuses on the behaviour changes required for human and animal health agencies to understand the importance of family poultry production, especially village poultry, in mixed farming systems. It emphasizes the potential of extensively raised poultry to deliver strategic high economic and nutritional value products in an ethical manner as a key component of nutrition-sensitive landscapes.